Phil Hogan to scrap all Town Councils. Number of County Councils to be reduced.

[NewGoldDream]

I would imagine he will have to let the mob elected under the FF regime serve out their term.

Ah now, when they lied/did a u-turn on Junior Ministers, it had nothing to do with FF.

I know they like to flap their hands about FF at every turn, but let's see whether they come through on this one.

[LDF]

Is this the first sign of reform of real reform? Now if Minister Hogan were to reverse his decision not to go ahead with the independent review into planning irregularities on councils, one could almost believe that true reform is coming...

How much would such a review save the Irish taxpayer? Very little in comparison to the reforms proposed by the Minister.

[edwin]

How much would such a review save the Irish taxpayer? Very little in comparison to the reforms proposed by the Minister.

These reforms were actually proposed by FF I believe to an extremely lukewarm reaction from the then opposition. Yet another damascene conversion for FG.

[Big Brother]

According to The Irish Daily Mail on Sunday Minister Phil Hogan is set to undertake a "radical reform of the local authority system" which will lead to the closure of all 80 town councils. There are currently 774 councillors serving on TC's.

Minister Hogan will also amalgamate some County Councils. The reforms will lead to savings worth hundreds of millions to the exchequer according to the story.

This is why I voted for FG. The local authority system has been a financial black hole for many years and has been crying out for reform. It would have been politically expedient for FG (the most dominant party in local government) to continue with the current system. I'm not sure FF would have undertook these reforms under the same circumstances.

There's no link available to the story.

If big Phil does this then fair play to him.

It will partly - but only partly - redeem FG in my eyes.

[Picasso Republic]

Great if it happens - but I doubt it will, and if it does it will be a watered down version.

Local politics in Ireland has very much become another money trough for the cronies of the Irish Political Parties and in many cases simply seen as a 'right' for the family and hangers-on to the local TD's apparatus and decisions made are very often determined by the political allegences of the petitioner (planning decisions or contract awards).

Irish politics is defunct due to Party Politics and the best in society having lost any interest in becoming involved in politics (due to the party system) as the existing parties for the most part lack any credibility.

I think most in Ireland would support a 'stripping down' of the system, if the long term aim is a rebuilding of a system which actually works.

[Podolski1.5]

If this is just about saving money then the obvious option would be to make town council membership completely unpaid with only very minimal expenses. It would then be interesting to see which councillors are genuinely committed to local government. I suspect it is not about saving money, but rather the removal of a strand of local democracy. The second question is whether more power is going to be devolved to the surviving county councils - again, I suspect not.

[LDF]

These reforms were actually proposed by FF I believe to an extremely lukewarm reaction from the then opposition. Yet another damascene conversion for FG.

The last FF Minister for the Environment (Noel Dempsey) added a couple of layers to local government with regional talking shops. He ended the dual mandate but gave town cllr's a salary.

John Gormley wanted to give Dublin a fifth Mayor but did not propose the kind of reforms being discussed here.

FF categorically did not propose these ideas. Governments don't propose they legislate and FF did not legislate for this.

I'd be happy to take a look at any link you throw up to support your point.

[edwin]

If this is just about saving money then the obvious option would be to make town council membership completely unpaid with only very minimum expenses. It would then be interesting to see which councillors are genuinely committed to local government. I suspect it is not about sa ving money, but rather the removal of a strand of local democracy. The second question is whether more power is going to be devolved to the surviving county councils - again, I suspect not.

It's more about the bureaucracy that goes with the town councils. Payment for members is pretty small beer but as usual draws the attention of a lot of people.

[Podolski1.5]

It's more about the bureaucracy that goes with the town councils. Payment for members is pretty small beer but as usual draws the attention of a lot of people.

That is surely a matter for the people who elect these councillors. Hogan wants to take away their democratic right to do so. Reform, not abolition is what is required.

[edwin]

The last FF Minister for the Environment (Noel Dempsey) added a couple of layers to local government with regional talking shops. He ended the dual mandate but gave town cllr's a salary.

John Gormley wanted to give Dublin a fifth Mayor but did not propose the kind of reforms being discussed here.

FF categorically did not propose these ideas. Governments don't propose they legislate and FF did not legislate for this.

I'd be happy to take a look at any link you throw up to support your point.

First result from a quick google:

http://www.southernstar.ie/article.php?id=2099

A few paragraphs down it refers specifically to a FF proposal and document. I'm pretty sure it was in the manifesto but I'm sure you can check it yourself.